It has long been recognized that a need exists for an effective, safe and inexpensive composition which can be used to coat structural surfaces to provide a thermal barrier to protect them from the detrimental effects of accidental fires. The fairly recent use of synthetic polymeric foam materials such as styrofoam and polyurethane foam as structural building materials and the later discovery that such materials upon exposure to fire can release noxious gases or fumes has created a demand for compositions which can be used to coat the exposed surfaces of such polymeric materials to provide a thermal barrier.
Among the various attempts that have been made to develop materials which can be used to coat such polymeric surfaces have been the development of coatings which contain, in addition to fire resistant substances, organic binders such as asphalt or synthetic polymers to help the fire resistant materials to adhere to the structural surfaces. The use of most organic binders is considered undesirable for the use of such materials is often expensive and almost invariably detracts from the fireproofing ability of the resulting thermal barrier. None of the existing compositions appear to completely satisfy the need for an effective, safe and inexpensive thermal barrier coating material.